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Pray for our leaders
Few things are as important as our families, be they traditional, single parent, combined or an individual; be they nearby, distant, large or small. In nothing do our prayers attain so much sincerity as for our families.
Bound together by the Fatherhood of God, we in the Church consider ourselves family and call one another brother or sister. In our caring, we've learned not to judge another family by its makeup; love and pain go around.
Indeed, our mission engages the brotherhood of all mankind. We take part with the rest of mankind ebbing and flowing in life's daily ups and downs. We quietly seek our food, our shelter, our relationships according to our choices, circumstances and the geography around us. Most of our experiences rise and fall in peaks and valleys common to normal life.
Yet around us, some pinnacles of experience rise beyond anything we've encountered. Such a pinnacle of which we speak is a position of high responsibility. We often see them, but seeing does not make of us partakers.
Subsequently, our moral support inclines to any and all in positions of high responsibility as they exercise integrity. Particular support is proffered to those in positions of high responsibility within the Church. Local leaders as well as General Officers can be recipients of our support and prayers.
Especially should we remember the general governing bodies, including the Presiding Bishopric, Quorums of the Seventy, Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency. They shoulder heavy burdens of responsibility and need our prayers.
Perhaps metaphoric of these burdens is a cameo of one of the Twelve at an airport, glimpsed hurrying to a distant gate down a long concourse, empty but for himself, the last to board. In his hand he lugs a briefcase stuffed to capacity. His face shows a more-than-slight desperation. He's just left people with high expectations. At the other end of the journey wait others with high expectations, and a long and tight itinerary.
Undoubtedly, he has been detained by some pressing matter. Undoubtedly, he will use the air time to prepare for what is ahead. Undoubtedly, he hurries toward that distant gate with a nagging shortage of sleep.
Such is the life of an apostle.
On a yet higher pinnacle is the president of the Church, President Thomas S. Monson. Upon his shoulders is conveyed the heaviest cargo of all.
Like mythical Atlas, he carries the world upon his back. But where the mythical giant hefted the physical weight of earth and seas, our prophet leader bears the greater spiritual weight of being a beacon of righteousness and a carrier of the divine will to a darkening, rejecting world.
Never has the adversary been more powerful. Never have members of the Church been more at risk. And he who stands at the helm of the ship of the Church is more anxious and aware of this than any other living soul.
As a Church, we will not fail. As individuals, we are as strong only as our willpower at our weakest moments. No mortal knows our weakest moments or is more deeply concerned than the president of the Church.
Surely we, as members of the Church, do well to offer our support at such critical times. In the closing session of last October's general conference, President Monson spoke "with all the feeling of a tender parent" (1 Nephi 8:37). Said he: "I love you; I pray for you. I would ask once again that you would remember me and all the General Authorities in your prayers. We are one with you in moving forward this marvelous work. I testify to you that we are all in this together and that every man, woman, and child has a part to play. May God give us the strength and the ability and the determination to play our part well"
The words of a hymn by Evan Stephens (1854-1930) convey our heartfelt prayer for "our prophet dear."
We ever pray for thee with all our hearts
That strength be given thee to do thy part,
To guide and counsel us from day to day,
To shed a holy light around our way (Hymns, No. 23).
As we pray for our prophet and his associates, let us also consider their families. For the most part, their children are successfully reared when the call comes to serve on a full-time basis. Yet so often, travel assignments come irrespective of the needs of family members. And each is the head of generations who are not at all secure. Spouses of General Authorities and General Officers sacrifice for the gospel in ways largely unknown to average members.
When President Monson tells us, "I love you; I pray for you," he speaks to each of us, individually. He speaks to us as parent and child; to our family. When we pray for him, let us remember his faithful and sacrificing family who mean so much to him. And so it is with all the Brethren and General Officers. Their families are precious to them, even as they leave once again to the airport en route to another extended trip.
They are, to a man and woman, deeply concerned for our families. As we pray for them, let us include their families in our prayers.
"I leave with you my witness and my testimony that God our Eternal Father lives and loves us," continued President Monson. "He is indeed our Father, and He is personal and real. May we realize and understand how close to us He is willing to come, how far He is willing to go to help us, how much He loves us, and how much He does and is willing to do for us.
"May He bless you. May His promised peace be with you now and always."
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